"Hello, and welcome to Capitol Gains, the show you watch when you want REAL analysis. With us today is our dean of political studies, Peter G."

I am not participating in this charade.

"What charade?"

You think I don't know why you've brought me on the show today? There are only two politicians making media waves right now, Rob "Get Crunk" Ford and Noo Joisey Governor Chris Christie. I'm supposed to talk about one of them, and since you didn't intro the segment with Snoop Lion, I'm figuring Christie.

"Well, yeah. He's the most likely Republican candidate for President, and he...or his staff, who has to answer to him, so he should have known...got caught abusing their municipal powers for political payback."

He didn't get caught.

"Oh, really? Then what do you call the leaked emails?"

A dog and pony show.

"What?"

Doesn't it seem odd to you that, with so many politicians with so much dirt, we're talking about Christie tying up traffic?

"You aren't seriously suggesting we give Christie a pass just because others do worse, are you? I mean, wrong is still wrong."

You misunderstand. You are looking at the trees, not the forest. Think about this -- Christie just ran for re-election. He knew he was aspiring to the Presidency. So why would these emails be in a position to be leaked? He would have only involved people that he knew wouldn't spill. And yet, here they are. Why?

"....uh...."

Because he's playing you. He's sending a message to the Republican Party -- you won't get rid of me easy. The party is currently wrestling with the Tea Partiers for control of their destiny. Tea Partiers are not running against Democrats, they are running aginst other R's. It's a mutiny. And they want one of their own like Santorum or Newtie on the ticket. Christie has too much momentum. They're been digging for dirt since he emerged as the frontrunner.

"So Christie should have been more careful with the...wait...."

Exactly. Christie not only faced up to the charges, he fired a longtime ally. This makes him seem decisive and tells the Tea Partiers they've got a fight on their hands. He wil sacrifice whoever he needs to to stay on top of the game. This is a pre-emptive strike.

"Yikes! And we're complicit!"

You betcha, babushka. Everyone is focusing on a non-scandal. Should it have not happened? Sure. But notice there's nothing worse than that popping up. Nothing like illegal contract jobs like what was rumbling before. Nothing really huge like political deals, mob influence, kickbacks, whatever. And this is going to turn out just like Duck Dynasty.

"What do you mean, just like Duck Dynasty?"

There's no way A&E didn't know the scandal from the interview was coming. They knew how the family was, they've shot and edited the show. But the interview goes out, and not only does viewership shoot through the roof, but so does what they can charge for a commercial slot. Because ideological support for the family has solidified. People are now white knighting them because they identify with them. It makes things personal, and creates an army to help combat negative press. Remember, we are looking at Hillary running, who has a vested interest in keeping people from looking behind the curtain. She was using subterfuge against Obama, she sure as shit will use it against Christie. And with a segment of the country seeing him as a regular joe, it can help stymie her messages from getting too big.

Agreed. Did you see a class action lawsuit has been filed against him over this?

Don't get me wrong, what he did was asshole. But make no mistake, he's just housecleaning to keep others from finding scandals on him first. They took a poll, and 55% of Jersey people are supporting him at the moment. This is going to be ugly.